The woman fell silent at Rei's words.
She surely understood full well that her golem had been destroyed to help someone—or rather, absorbed by the Necro Golem.
But even so, the reason she had voiced her dissatisfaction toward Rei was that she couldn't fully accept the loss of her golem.
(Well, actually... when I think about it, the Necro Golem was ultimately burned by my magic, so saying I destroyed this woman's golem isn't exactly wrong. Thinking of it that way, maybe her actions aren't quite as misguided as they seem... or are they?)
The thought crossed his mind, but if asked whether he could tolerate being blamed for it, Rei's answer was a firm no.
"Anyway, putting that aside... I get that you have a grudge against me. But you went out of your way to approach me like this—what are you planning to do? Didn't you want to accomplish something?"
"That's... I just wanted to complain."
Was that really enough? Rei couldn't help but wonder, but it seemed she had no intention of actually harming him.
Seeing the woman's demeanor, Rei wasn't sure what to do.
He had assumed she would take more direct action.
Like punching him... or stabbing him with a dagger, or something of that sort.
From what he could see, however, the woman showed no signs of doing anything like that.
She hadn't radiated any killing intent, so in that sense, maybe his initial assessment hadn't been wrong. But... what was he supposed to do with this situation?
If she were someone trying to directly harm him, Rei would have retaliated with appropriate force.
But from what he could see, the woman had no intention of going that far.
It was clear she had strong feelings about her golem being absorbed by the Necro Golem, but that was the extent of it.
She would likely be satisfied just by venting her frustrations at Rei.
"Then you've said your piece, so you should be satisfied now. After this, you don't have any more business with—"
Rei was about to finish, but suddenly noticed several figures approaching them.
They weren't assassins or anything of the sort—just the kind of thugs commonly found on the streets... or perhaps ex-adventurers.
"Heh... just as I thought. Pretty fine woman, right? Even from a distance I could tell she was a looker."
"Your eye for women is something else. Anyway, you can get lost now, little guy. This lady's gonna have a fun time with us."
"Gyahahaha, that'd just be fun for you alone, wouldn't it?"
"Nah, we ain't letting you hog her all to yourself. We all get to enjoy her—that's the right answer."
About five men looked at the woman who had been talking with Rei and laughed vulgarly.
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, the woman briefly wore an expression of surprise, but quickly directed a fierce glare at the men.
She must have realized they weren't seeing her as an alchemist, but as a woman—and moreover, as an object of their lust.
"Don't mess with me! Do you even understand what kind of situation Egginis is in right now!? If you have time for this kind of pointless garbage, go help clear the main street!"
Her sharp voice rang out through the surroundings.
Hearing those words, Rei wore a subtle expression.
What the woman was saying wasn't wrong.
The main street did indeed need a great deal of manpower right now.
Given that, it made sense to tell them that if they had time to waste on pointless nonsense here, they should go there instead. He understood that, but...
(The woman who came blaming me because her golem got absorbed by the Necro Golem saying something like that... doesn't exactly carry much persuasive weight.)
Of course, if asked whose words he found more trustworthy—the woman's or the men's—Rei would say the woman's.
At the very least, she had built a golem and used it to save someone from the Necro Golem.
In contrast, while he had only just met the men and didn't know their backgrounds for certain, from the way they talked, he couldn't possibly consider them trustworthy.
There was a chance the men had actually been desperately clearing rubble on the main street, but...
(No, that's not it.)
Rei dismissed the possibility instantly after observing them.
There was no trace of dirt or grime on their clothes or faces.
If they had been doing rubble removal work, they would have at least some filth on them.
The fact that there was none meant they probably hadn't been doing any such work.
Confirming Rei's assumption, one of the men took offense at the woman's words and sharpened his gaze.
"Ahh, when you put it like that, we've gotta respond in kind. Come on, brat. You're in the way, so scram. We're gonna teach this woman some common sense."
At the man's gaze, the woman stepped back without even realizing it.
Seeing her reaction, Rei considered what to do... and stepped forward, passing her.
It was true the woman had given him a hard time over the golem incident.
But she had done so as a result of working hard as an alchemist.
If asked whose side to take—the woman or the men in front of him—there was no need to even think about it.
"You're the ones who should disappear. Thugs like you... no, ex-adventurers? Why are people like you hanging around a place like this?"
"...Huh?"
Hearing Rei's words, one of the men glared at him, irritation plain on his face.
He never expected to be talked to like that in this situation.
To the men, Rei looked like nothing more than a small-statured young man.
What's more, the robe he wore was nothing special—just the kind you could buy anywhere.
For someone dressed in such an ordinary robe to pick a fight with them, the men—who weren't particularly patient to begin with—couldn't possibly tolerate Rei's remarks.
However, Rei showed no sign of fear and continued speaking.
"Didn't you hear me? I said get out of here right now."
"You little—"
To be looked down on by someone so small and seemingly weak.
Feeling that slight, the man approached Rei with a near-reflexive motion and raised his fist... but the next moment, he crumpled to the ground.
"Guh... gah... my leg..."
The man cried out in pain.
Rei had kicked him in the leg right before he could throw his punch, so it was only natural he'd be groaning.
The others initially thought he might have deliberately tripped to mock their opponent, but seeing him actually in pain, they could roughly piece together what had happened.
They turned disbelieving stares toward Rei.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for these men, the one who had charged at Rei was the strongest among them.
That man had been downed in an instant—even though it didn't look like anything had been done to him at all.
It was only then that they apparently realized Rei was an opponent of completely incomparable strength.
If they had been proper adventurers rather than thugs or ex-adventurers, they might have been able to sense Rei's strength just by facing him.
Unfortunately, these men lacked such ability and couldn't gauge their opponent's skill.
"Go. You should understand the difference in strength by now. There's no way you can beat me. Or... do you want to test whether you can win, right up until you die? I'm fine with that, you know?"
"Hii... hiiiigh!"
"Ah, w-wait!"
Perhaps sensing genuine intent in Rei's words, or perhaps simply judging that there was nothing they could do—the men scrambled to flee the scene.
"Wait, you're just gonna leave your companion behind? Well, I guess that's the kind of crowd they are."
Rei muttered with an expression of exasperation at the fact that the man still groaning in pain from Rei's strike had been left behind.
The abandoned man could only direct a fearful gaze at Rei.
He had picked a fight with someone he thought was a puppy, only to discover the opponent was actually a dragon.
It was a bit of an exaggeration, but that was likely what the man was feeling.
Fortunately for him, that dragon was no longer showing any interest in the man he had already defeated.
If the man had looked like he was carrying a bit more money, Rei might have taken it as spoils of victory, but he didn't seem to have that kind of cash on him.
Given that, there was no need to bother messing with him further.
"Why..."
Suddenly, that voice reached Rei's back.
There was no need to think about whose voice it was.
The female alchemist who had come to hassle Rei before these men showed up—and who was then harassed by the men in turn.
She was looking at Rei with an expression of incomprehension on her intelligent, beautiful face.
"What is it?"
Rei had no idea what this woman was trying to say.
When he directed a questioning gaze at her, she opened her mouth again.
"Why did you do something like help me? I was harassing you with completely unreasonable accusations, you know? From your perspective, I must have been a nuisance. And yet, why... did you help me?"
Hearing that, Rei wore a blank expression for a moment, as if he didn't understand what she was saying.
But he quickly grasped what she meant.
"Ah, come to think of it, these men originally had their sights set on you."
Rei muttered while glancing at the man, who was still groaning in pain and trying his best to avoid meeting Rei's gaze.
For Rei, being approached because of his appearance was a frequent occurrence.
And those who came hassling him over a woman would ultimately end up hassling Rei too.
Given that, Rei recognized these people as existences that had come to bother him, and as a result, they became existences to be eliminated.
At that point, whether they had been hassling the woman or not was already irrelevant to him.
"I'm used to this sort of thing. Besides... right. If I had to give a reason for helping you, your golem saved someone. I think that's reason enough."
From Rei's perspective, the female alchemist and the ex-adventurers were the same in that they both came to hassle him.
But even if the act of hassling was the same, the reasons behind it were vastly different.
Moreover, the strong affection the woman held for her golem was also a point in her favor as far as Rei was concerned.
"Seriously... you helped me for something like that?"
"You seem to be misunderstanding something. I didn't intend to help you. If you were watching, you know these men came at me too, right? Then wouldn't you say it's only natural for me to deal with someone like that?"
"That's... no, but..."
The woman wore a conflicted expression, seemingly both convinced and unconvinced by Rei's words.
Watching her, Rei thought for a moment before speaking again.
"I see. Then let's call this one a favor owed. If I'm ever in trouble and you're in a position to help me, then help me. Though... personally, rather than that, I'd rather you make golems that are more useful to people. If you focus on that, we can call the debt repaid."
"I... I'm telling you, I don't think you'll gain anything by doing something like that for me."
"Really? Just being an alchemist at the Jalis Workshop is proof you're competent. And in reality, your golem saved someone. I'd say that's a pretty significant thing, don't you?"
Hearing Rei's words, the woman suddenly averted her gaze.
Rei thought her cheeks seemed faintly flushed, but he immediately dismissed the thought—there was no way the woman who had just been complaining to him would...
Thinking it would be embarrassing to be so full of himself.
"Th-then I'll take my leave here. I'm sorry for venting my frustrations at you. If anything happens, come rely on me instead of Roger. Got it!?"
With that, the woman ran off without waiting for Rei's response.
Rei watched her retreating back and opened his mouth in bewilderment.
"Even if she says to rely on her... how am I supposed to rely on someone whose name I don't even know?"
"No, that's not the issue here."
At Rei's clueless remark, the man who should have been groaning in pain retorted almost involuntarily.
But when Rei turned his gaze toward him once more, the man turned his face away as if to escape those eyes.